Episcopal Press and News
Press Alert: Church delegation to meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell on June 7
Episcopal News Service. June 5, 2001 [2001-142]
A high-level delegation of church leaders--representing Episcopal, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Lutheran churches, as well as the National Council of Churches--will meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell at 10am on June 7 to discuss the crisis in the Middle East.
In a letter that Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold of the Episcopal Church will present to Powell on behalf of the delegation, the church leaders express their support for his efforts to "end the Israeli-Palestinian cycle of violence and rebuild the trust and mutual confidence that are critical for a negotiated settlement."
In the letter, the delegation notes "the destructive impact of Israel's settlement policy," an activity that continues despite appeals to previous administrations for a freeze. It also urges the United States to do what it can to bring an end to Israel's military occupation of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the use of American weapons.
Several members of the delegation were part of an ecumenical peace delegation that visited the area last December and witnessed the bombing of Christian homes and businesses in Bethlehem and the neighboring villages of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour.
"We have heard the cries of fear and mourning of Palestinian Christians and Muslims and of Israeli Jews and pray for their healing and the reconciliation of the Abrahamic family," the letter concludes. It promised prayers for Powell and President George W. Bush "as you seek to forge a fair and just policy for the two peoples and three faiths who share a common religious heritage in the land we hold as holy."
The delegation will be available to the press after the meeting, about 10:30, at the covered area near the C Street entrance to the State Department.
For further information:
Corinne Whitlatch, Churches for Middle East Peace (tel. 202-546-8425)
The Rev. Brian Grieves, Episcopal Church USA (tel. 212-922-5207)
The Rev. Mark Brown, Evangelical Lutheran Church (tel. 202-783-7507)